Combining Site Characterization, Monitoring and Hydromechanical Modeling for Assessing Slope Stability

Abstract

Rainfall-induced landslides are a disastrous natural hazard causing loss of life and significant damage to infrastructure, farmland and housing. Hydromechanical models are one way to assess the slope stability and to predict critical combinations of groundwater levels, soil water content and precipitation. However, hydromechanical models for slope stability evaluation require knowledge about mechanical and hydraulic parameters of the soils, lithostratigraphy and morphology. In this work, we present a multi-method approach of site characterization and investigation in combination with a hydromechanical model for a landslide-prone hillslope near Bonn, Germany. The field investigation was used to construct a three-dimensional slope model with major geological units derived from drilling and refraction seismic surveys. Mechanical and hydraulic soil parameters were obtained from previously published values for the study site based on laboratory analysis. Water dynamics were monitored through geoelectrical monitoring, a soil water content sensor network and groundwater stations. Historical data were used for calibration and validation of the hydromechanical model. The well-constrained model was then used to calculate potentially hazardous precipitation events to derive critical thresholds for monitored variables, such as soil water content and precipitation. This work introduces a potential workflow to improve numerical slope stability analysis through multiple data sources from field investigations and outlines the usage of such a system with respect to a site-specific early-warning system.

Keywords

• landslide
• hydromechanical modeling
• early-warning
• slope stability
• rainfall-induced landslides
• local factor of safety